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Voiced alveolar and postalveolar approximants facts for kids

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Alveolar approximant
ɹ
ð̠˕
IPA number 151
Encoding
Entity (decimal) ɹ
Unicode (hex) U+0279
X-SAMPA r\ or D_r_o
Kirshenbaum r

 
ɹ̠

 

The voiced alveolar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the alveolar and postalveolar approximants is ⟨ɹ⟩, a lowercase letter r rotated 180 degrees. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r\.

The most common sound represented by the letter r in English is the voiced postalveolar approximant, pronounced a little more back and transcribed more precisely in IPA as ⟨ɹ̠⟩, but ⟨ɹ⟩ is often used for convenience in its place. For further ease of typesetting, English phonemic transcriptions might use the symbol ⟨r⟩ even though this symbol represents the alveolar trill in phonetic transcription.

The bunched or molar r sounds remarkably similar to the postalveolar approximant and can be described as a voiced labial pre-velar approximant with tongue-tip retraction. It can be transcribed in IPA as ⟨ψ⟩ or ⟨ɹ̈⟩.

Features

Voiced alveolar approximant
A schematic mid-sagittal section of an articulation of a voiced alveolar approximant [ɹ].
Voiced postalveolar approximant
A schematic mid-sagittal section of an articulation of a voiced postalveolar approximant [ɹ̠].

Features of the voiced alveolar approximant:

  • Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
  • Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
  • Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
  • It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
  • The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Alveolar

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Albanian gjelbër [ˈɟʑɛlbəɹ] 'green'
Armenian Classical սուրճ [suɹtʃ] 'coffee'
Assamese ঙা (rônga) [ɹɔŋa] 'red'
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Alqosh dialect ܪܒ [ɹɑbɑ] 'many' Corresponds to /ɾ/ in most other Assyrian dialects.
Tyari dialect
Bengali Especially Eastern dialects আবা [abaɹ] 'again' Phonetic realisation of /r/, especially in some Eastern Dialects and sometimes in conjunct before consonants. Corresponds to [r ~ ɾ] in others. See Bengali phonology
Burmese ရိဘောဂ [pəɹḭbɔ́ɡa̰] 'furniture' Occurs only in loanwords, mostly from Pali or English.
Chukchi ңирэк [ŋiɹek] 'two'
Dahalo [káð̠˕i] 'work' Apical. It is a common intervocalic allophone of /d̠/, and may be a weak fricative [[[Error using : IPA symbol "ð̠" not found in list|ð̠]]] or simply a plosive [d] instead.
Danish Standard ved [ve̝ð̠˕ˠ] 'at' Velarized and laminal; allophone of /d/ in the syllable coda. For a minority of speakers, it may be a non-sibilant fricative instead. See Danish phonology.
Dutch Central Netherlandic door [doːɹ] 'through' Allophone of /r/ in the syllable coda for some speakers. See Dutch phonology.
Western Netherlandic
Leiden rat [ɹat] 'rat' Corresponds to /r/ in other dialects.
Faroese róður [ɹɔuwʊɹ] 'rudder' See Faroese phonology.
German Moselle Franconian (Siegerland and Westerwald dialects) Rebe [ˈɹeːbə] 'vine' Most other dialects use a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ], a uvular trill [ʀ] or an alveolar trill [r]. See Standard German phonology.
Silesian
Upper Lusatian
Greek μέρα ra [ˈmɛɹɐ] 'day' Allophone of /ɾ/ in rapid or casual speech and between vowels. See Modern Greek phonology.
Icelandic bróðir [ˈprou̯ð̠˕ir] 'brother' Usually apical. See Icelandic phonology.
Limburgish Montfortian dialect maintenant [ˈmæ̃ːn˦ð̠˕ənɑ̃ː˨] 'now'
Persian فارسی [fɒːɹˈsiː] 'Persian' Allophone of /ɾ/ before /d/, /l/, /s/, /ʃ/, /t/, /z/, and /ʒ/. See Persian phonology.
Portuguese Multiple Brazilian dialects, mostly inland Centro-Sul amor [aˈmoɹˠ] 'love' Allophone of /ɾ ~ ʁ/ in the syllable coda. Velarized, may also be retroflex, post-alveolar and/or a rhotic vowel. See Portuguese phonology.
Spanish Andalusian doscientos [do̞ɹˈθje̞n̪t̪o̞s] 'two hundred' Allophone of /s/ before [θ]. See Spanish phonology.
Belizean invierno [imˈbjeɹno] 'winter' Possible realization of /r/ in the syllable coda due to English influence.
Caribbean Colombian
Puerto Rican
Swedish Central Standard starkast [ˈs̪t̪äɹːkäs̪t̪] 'strongest' Allophone of /r/. Some speakers have [ɾ] ([r] when geminated) in all positions. See Swedish phonology.
Tagalog parang [paɹaŋ] 'like-' Allophone of the more traditional [ɾ ~ r] used by the more English-literate younger speakers.
Turkish Marmara Region artık [aɹtɯk] 'excess, surplus' Occurs as an allophone of [ɾ] in syllable coda, in free variation with post-alveolar [[[Error using : IPA symbol "ɹ̠" not found in list|ɹ̠]]]. See Turkish phonology.
Vietnamese Saigon ra [ɹa] 'go out' In free variation with [ɾ], [r] and [ʐ]. See Vietnamese phonology.
Zapotec Tilquiapan r [ɹd̪ɨ] 'pass' Allophone of /ɾ/ before consonants.

Postalveolar

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
English Australian red [ɹ̠ʷed] 'red' Often labialized. May also be a labialized retroflex approximant. For convenience it is often transcribed ⟨r⟩. See Australian English phonology, English phonology, Rhoticity in English and Pronunciation of English /r/.
Most American dialects
Received Pronunciation
Igbo rí [ɹ̠í] 'eat'
Malay راتوس / ratus [ɹ̠ä.tos] 'hundred' More commonly trill [r] or flap [ɾ]. See Malay phonology
Maltese Some dialects malajr [mɐˈlɐjɹ̠] 'quickly' Corresponds to [ɾ ~ r] in other dialects.
Shipibo roro [ˈd̠ɹ̠o̽ɾ̠o̽] 'to break into pieces' Pre-stopped. Possible word-initial realization of /r/.
Thai Standard กรุงเทพ / Krungthep Bangkok Allophone with the alveolar approximant [ɹ]. Contrast with standard form which pronounce alveolar trill [r].

As an allophone of other rhotic sounds, [ɹ] occurs in Edo, Fula, Murrinh-patha, and Palauan.

See also

  • Index of phonetics articles
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